Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough: Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries

Mara Morelli; Fau  Rosati; Elena  Cattelino; Flavio Urbini; Roberto Baiocco; Dora Bianchi; Fiorenzo Laghi; Maurizio Gasseau; Piotr  Sorokowski; Michal Misiak; Martyna Dziekan; Heather  Hudson; Alexandra  Marshall; Thanh Truc Nguyen; Lauren Mark; Kamil Kopecky; René Szotkowski; Ezgi Toplu Demirtaş; Joris Van Ouytsel; Koen Ponnet; Michel Walrave; Tingshao Zhu; Ya Chen; Nan Zhao; Xiaoqian Liu; Alexander Voiskounsky; Nataliya Bogacheva; Maria Ioannou; John Synnott; Calli Tzani; Vimala Balakrishnan; Moses Okumu; Eusebius Small; Silviya  Pavlova Nikolova; Michelle Drouin; Alessandra  Ragona; Antonio Chirumbolo

doi:10.70478/psicothema.2025.37.22

Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough: Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries

Mara Morelli, Fau Rosati, Elena Cattelino, Flavio Urbini, Roberto Baiocco, Dora Bianchi, Fiorenzo Laghi, Maurizio Gasseau, Piotr Sorokowski, Michal Misiak, Martyna Dziekan, Heather Hudson, Alexandra Marshall, Thanh Truc Nguyen, Lauren Mark, Kamil Kopecky, René Szotkowski, Ezgi Toplu Demirtaş, Joris Van Ouytsel, Koen PonnetMichel Walrave, Tingshao Zhu, Ya Chen, Nan Zhao, Xiaoqian Liu, Alexander Voiskounsky, Nataliya Bogacheva, Maria Ioannou, John Synnott, Calli Tzani, Vimala Balakrishnan, Moses Okumu, Eusebius Small, Silviya Pavlova Nikolova, Michelle Drouin, Alessandra Ragona, Antonio Chirumbolo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Background: Sexting is now widely acknowledged as a common sexual behavior among adolescents and young adults. However, the occurrence of abusive interactions, such as non-consensual sexting, warrants attention. Prevalence rates of non-consensual sexting vary between countries, influenced by gender and age. The present study examined the relationship between three facets of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., callousness, uncaring, and unemotional) and the sharing of non-consensual sexts across different relationship contexts (i.e., acquaintances, strangers, or partners).

Method: Data were drawn from a cross-countries project encompassing 11 countries: Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and the USA. The sample comprised 6093 young adults (3682 girls; 2401 boys), aged 13 to 30 (M = 20.35; SD = 3.63). Results:

Results from a logistic mixed-model indicate that CU traits predict non-consensual sexting, with high callousness and uncaring, and low unemotional traits associated with non-consensual sexting involving partners and strangers. Younger individuals and women were more likely to engage in all forms of non-consensual sexting compared to older individuals and men.

Conclusions: It is important to promote sexual education programs to increase emotional self-awareness and challenge gender stereotypes in order to reduce adverse outcomes associated with sexting.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	33-44
Number of pages	12
Journal	Psicothema
Volume	37
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.70478/psicothema.2025.37.22
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2025

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Morelli, M., Rosati, F., Cattelino, E., Urbini, F., Baiocco, R., Bianchi, D., Laghi, F., Gasseau, M., Sorokowski, P., Misiak, M., Dziekan, M., Hudson, H., Marshall, A., Truc Nguyen, T., Mark, L., Kopecky, K., Szotkowski, R., Toplu Demirtaş, E., Van Ouytsel, J., ... Chirumbolo, A. (2025). Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough: Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries. Psicothema, 37(3), 33-44. https://doi.org/10.70478/psicothema.2025.37.22

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title = "Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough: Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries",

abstract = "Background: Sexting is now widely acknowledged as a common sexual behavior among adolescents and young adults. However, the occurrence of abusive interactions, such as non-consensual sexting, warrants attention. Prevalence rates of non-consensual sexting vary between countries, influenced by gender and age. The present study examined the relationship between three facets of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., callousness, uncaring, and unemotional) and the sharing of non-consensual sexts across different relationship contexts (i.e., acquaintances, strangers, or partners).Method: Data were drawn from a cross-countries project encompassing 11 countries: Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and the USA. The sample comprised 6093 young adults (3682 girls; 2401 boys), aged 13 to 30 (M = 20.35; SD = 3.63). Results: Results from a logistic mixed-model indicate that CU traits predict non-consensual sexting, with high callousness and uncaring, and low unemotional traits associated with non-consensual sexting involving partners and strangers. Younger individuals and women were more likely to engage in all forms of non-consensual sexting compared to older individuals and men. Conclusions: It is important to promote sexual education programs to increase emotional self-awareness and challenge gender stereotypes in order to reduce adverse outcomes associated with sexting.",

keywords = "sexting, non-consensual, callousness, unemotional, young adults",

author = "Mara Morelli and Fau Rosati and Elena Cattelino and Flavio Urbini and Roberto Baiocco and Dora Bianchi and Fiorenzo Laghi and Maurizio Gasseau and Piotr Sorokowski and Michal Misiak and Martyna Dziekan and Heather Hudson and Alexandra Marshall and {Truc Nguyen}, Thanh and Lauren Mark and Kamil Kopecky and Ren{\'e} Szotkowski and {Toplu Demirta{\c s}}, Ezgi and {Van Ouytsel}, Joris and Koen Ponnet and Michel Walrave and Tingshao Zhu and Ya Chen and Nan Zhao and Xiaoqian Liu and Alexander Voiskounsky and Nataliya Bogacheva and Maria Ioannou and John Synnott and Calli Tzani and Vimala Balakrishnan and Moses Okumu and Eusebius Small and {Pavlova Nikolova}, Silviya and Michelle Drouin and Alessandra Ragona and Antonio Chirumbolo",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.70478/psicothema.2025.37.22",

language = "English",

volume = "37",

pages = "33--44",

journal = "Psicothema",

issn = "0214-9915",

publisher = "Colegio Oficial de Psicologos Asturias",

number = "3",

}

Morelli, M, Rosati, F, Cattelino, E, Urbini, F, Baiocco, R, Bianchi, D, Laghi, F, Gasseau, M, Sorokowski, P, Misiak, M, Dziekan, M, Hudson, H, Marshall, A, Truc Nguyen, T, Mark, L, Kopecky, K, Szotkowski, R, Toplu Demirtaş, E, Van Ouytsel, J, Ponnet, K, Walrave, M, Zhu, T, Chen, Y, Zhao, N, Liu, X, Voiskounsky, A, Bogacheva, N, Ioannou, M , Synnott, J , Tzani, C, Balakrishnan, V, Okumu, M, Small, E, Pavlova Nikolova, S, Drouin, M, Ragona, A & Chirumbolo, A 2025, 'Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough: Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries', Psicothema, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 33-44. https://doi.org/10.70478/psicothema.2025.37.22

TY - JOUR

T1 - Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough

T2 - Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries

AU - Morelli, Mara

AU - Rosati, Fau

AU - Cattelino, Elena

AU - Urbini, Flavio

AU - Baiocco, Roberto

AU - Bianchi, Dora

AU - Laghi, Fiorenzo

AU - Gasseau, Maurizio

AU - Sorokowski, Piotr

AU - Misiak, Michal

AU - Dziekan, Martyna

AU - Hudson, Heather

AU - Marshall, Alexandra

AU - Truc Nguyen, Thanh

AU - Mark, Lauren

AU - Kopecky, Kamil

AU - Szotkowski, René

AU - Toplu Demirtaş, Ezgi

AU - Van Ouytsel, Joris

AU - Ponnet, Koen

AU - Walrave, Michel

AU - Zhu, Tingshao

AU - Chen, Ya

AU - Zhao, Nan

AU - Liu, Xiaoqian

AU - Voiskounsky, Alexander

AU - Bogacheva, Nataliya

AU - Ioannou, Maria

AU - Synnott, John

AU - Tzani, Calli

AU - Balakrishnan, Vimala

AU - Okumu, Moses

AU - Small, Eusebius

AU - Pavlova Nikolova, Silviya

AU - Drouin, Michelle

AU - Ragona, Alessandra

AU - Chirumbolo, Antonio

PY - 2025/7/1

Y1 - 2025/7/1

N2 - Background: Sexting is now widely acknowledged as a common sexual behavior among adolescents and young adults. However, the occurrence of abusive interactions, such as non-consensual sexting, warrants attention. Prevalence rates of non-consensual sexting vary between countries, influenced by gender and age. The present study examined the relationship between three facets of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., callousness, uncaring, and unemotional) and the sharing of non-consensual sexts across different relationship contexts (i.e., acquaintances, strangers, or partners).Method: Data were drawn from a cross-countries project encompassing 11 countries: Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and the USA. The sample comprised 6093 young adults (3682 girls; 2401 boys), aged 13 to 30 (M = 20.35; SD = 3.63). Results: Results from a logistic mixed-model indicate that CU traits predict non-consensual sexting, with high callousness and uncaring, and low unemotional traits associated with non-consensual sexting involving partners and strangers. Younger individuals and women were more likely to engage in all forms of non-consensual sexting compared to older individuals and men. Conclusions: It is important to promote sexual education programs to increase emotional self-awareness and challenge gender stereotypes in order to reduce adverse outcomes associated with sexting.

AB - Background: Sexting is now widely acknowledged as a common sexual behavior among adolescents and young adults. However, the occurrence of abusive interactions, such as non-consensual sexting, warrants attention. Prevalence rates of non-consensual sexting vary between countries, influenced by gender and age. The present study examined the relationship between three facets of callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., callousness, uncaring, and unemotional) and the sharing of non-consensual sexts across different relationship contexts (i.e., acquaintances, strangers, or partners).Method: Data were drawn from a cross-countries project encompassing 11 countries: Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Uganda, and the USA. The sample comprised 6093 young adults (3682 girls; 2401 boys), aged 13 to 30 (M = 20.35; SD = 3.63). Results: Results from a logistic mixed-model indicate that CU traits predict non-consensual sexting, with high callousness and uncaring, and low unemotional traits associated with non-consensual sexting involving partners and strangers. Younger individuals and women were more likely to engage in all forms of non-consensual sexting compared to older individuals and men. Conclusions: It is important to promote sexual education programs to increase emotional self-awareness and challenge gender stereotypes in order to reduce adverse outcomes associated with sexting.

KW - sexting

KW - non-consensual

KW - callousness

KW - unemotional

KW - young adults

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105009578841&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.70478/psicothema.2025.37.22

DO - 10.70478/psicothema.2025.37.22

M3 - Article

VL - 37

SP - 33

EP - 44

JO - Psicothema

JF - Psicothema

SN - 0214-9915

IS - 3

ER -

Emotionally Tough, Sexting Rough: Relationship Between Callous Unemotional Traits and Aggravated Sexting in 11 Countries

Abstract

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